THE LOST JUNGLE

THE LOST JUNGLE: Cliffhanger Action and Hollywood Serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Guy Barefoot. University of Exeter Press; 2017. 

If you're expecting a fun and colorful book examining the cliffhanger serials of old, be forewarned that The Lost Jungle is from an academic publisher and has different fish to fry. Author Barefoot looks into the minutia of serials, sometimes comically spelling out the obvious in great detail, but his enthusiasm for his subject triumphs over the approach and the book is much more absorbing and entertaining than you would expect. For one thing, Barefoot's prose is accessible and generally not pretentious. Barefoot looks into the notion that serials were just for kids, and gives convincing evidence that adults could and did enjoy these action-packed cliffhangers as much as any child. With a grant from the British academy (some authors have all the luck!), Barefoot flew to the U.S. to do extensive research in various libraries. While it may seem a bit odd that money would be paid so that a writer could explore these old serials, of all things, at least Barefoot has come up with a wealth of information and successfully argues that the cliffhangers were more popular than realized and are worthy of study.  

Verdict: Somehow the fun of the serials comes through despite the scholarly approach. ***. 

SCIENCE FICTION CONFIDENTIAL: Interviews with 23 Monster Stars and Filmmakers. Tom Weaver. McFarland; 2002. 

Tom Weaver has assembled another crop of interviews with old time actors, producers etc. who at one point or another were involved with genre films, especially science fiction. Many of the names in this book are really obscure: Phoebe Dorin, who did a nightclub act and appeared on The Wild, Wild West with diminutive Michael Dunn; Russ Doughton, who produced The Blob, but there are a couple of more familiar names such as Dan O'Herlihy (who doesn't quite seem to belong in this book), David Hedison of The Fly and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Warren Stevens of Forbidden Planet fame. Not to mention prolific producers Richard and Alex Gordon. Speaking of The Blob, people involved with that production don't seem to be aware of earlier "blob" films such as The Creeping Unknown and Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (or just didn't want to admit it was a rip-off). Some of these people had genuine careers while others had only a brief flirtation with crazy "show biz." Some, like the very talented Jacqueline Scott [Macabre], have long careers without ever becoming quite famous. In any case, their stories are almost always interesting. 

Verdict: More interviews with a couple of greats and many not-so-great. ***. 

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS. Tom Weaver. McFarland; 1994.

This book collects interviews, some already published in such magazines as Fangoria, with a variety of people associated with the horror/sci fi genre. These include Hitchcock screenwriter, Charles Bennett, who is billed as the "oldest employed screenwriter;" producer Herman Cohen, who hired Joan Crawford for her last features Berserk and Trog; director Val Guest, of Creeping Unknown and The Day the Earth Caught Fire; actress Susan Hart of Dr. Goldfoot infamy; Candace Hilligoss of Carnival of Souls and The Curse of the Living Corpse, who provides lots of behind-the-scenes details on those pictures; veteran actress Rose Hobart [The Adventures of Smilin' Jack]; Roger Corman actress Betsy Jones-Moreland, who says of Corman, "I wanted to kill him sometimes, but I liked him;" veteran actors Cameron Mitchell and Vincent Price; and lesser- known folk such as actor William Phipps [Five] and screenwriter Harry Spalding [Spaceflight IC-1]; not to mention Kenneth Tobey, who confirms that Howard Hawks was the one and only director of The Thing from Another World; among others.

Verdict: Very readable and interesting series of interviews with lesser (but no less memorable) lights. ***.